The Mediating Role of Job Crafting in the Relationship between Employee Resilience and Work Engagement Evidence from the Egyptian Healthcare Sector

Abstract

The healthcare sector in Egypt operates under intense pressure due to high patient loads, limited resources, and a growing demand for quality care. These challenges, intensified in the post-pandemic era, have raised critical concerns regarding the psychological well-being and sustained engagement of healthcare professionals. This study investigates how employee resilience, defined as the capacity to recover from adversity and adapt to workplace demands, influences work engagement—a vital psychological state characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Specifically, the study explores the mediating role of job crafting, a proactive behavioral strategy through which employees reshape their job tasks, relationships, and perceptions to better align with their skills, values, and interests. Grounded in the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theory, which posits that both personal and job resources play a central role in employee motivation and engagement, this research examines whether job crafting acts as a behavioral mechanism that transmits the positive effects of resilience on engagement. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 400 full-time healthcare professionals in both public and private hospitals across Egypt. The study employed Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using Smart PLS 4.0 to analyze the hypothesized direct and indirect relationships between the constructs. The results indicate that employee resilience has a strong and statistically significant positive effect on both job crafting and work engagement. More importantly, job crafting was found to partially mediate the relationship between resilience and engagement. These findings suggest that while resilient employees are more likely to remain engaged, the presence of proactive job crafting behaviors enhances this relationship further. In essence, resilience equips healthcare workers with the psychological strength to cope with challenges, while job crafting provides the behavioral tools to actively shape more meaningful, manageable, and motivating work environments. The study contributes to the theoretical development of the JD-R model by empirically validating a mediation model in a high-stress, under-researched context: the Egyptian healthcare system. It also supports Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, reinforcing the idea that resilient individuals not only preserve internal resources but also invest them in proactive behaviors that generate further resources and positive outcomes. From a practical perspective, the research highlights the importance of investing in both psychological and behavioral development among healthcare workers. Hospital administrators, HR practitioners, and policymakers should consider implementing resilience training programs, offering flexible job design opportunities, and fostering a supportive environment that encourages job crafting. These initiatives can enhance work engagement, reduce burnout, and ultimately improve the quality and sustainability of healthcare services in Egypt.